Book
Malekula: a vanishing people in the New Hebrides
George Routledge and Sons, Ltd. • London • Published In 1934 • Pages:
By: Deacon, Bernard, Wedgwood, Camilla H. (Camilla Hildegarde).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This monograph is a comprehensive survey of traditional Malekulan ethnography, based on Deacon's own field observations during the period of 1925-1927, and the memories of his native informants dealing with earlier historical periods. Copious notes were taken by the author during the years of his field work, but unfortunately he died of blackwater fever in 1927 before they could be organized into a form suitable for publication. After his death this task was left to Miss Camilla H. Wedgewood who edited the notes and put them into the final form of the publication presented here (with many editorial notes scattered throughout the text). Although Deacon's work centered primarily on the southwestern region of Malekula, he does present much comparative information on other regions of the island as well (northwestern, eastern, northern, central, etc.). Much of the document deals with the age grade rituals of the NIMANGKI and NALAWAN societies, but there is also abundant information on geography, kinship, marriage, the economic life, warfare, birth and initiation, the gongs (which are involved in many aspects of Malekulan life), death practices, totemism, and magic. Three appendices provide data on the prehistoric pottery used extensively in rituals, native texts of myths, and a glossary of native terms.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Reviews and critiques
- Domesticated animals
- Body alterations
- Age stratification
- Sodalities
- Regulation of marriage
- Kinship terminology
- Kin relationships
- Avuncular and nepotic relatives
- Clans
- Mythology
- Eschatology
- Spirits and gods
- Sacred objects and places
- Magic
- Organized ceremonial
- Puberty and initiation
- Interlinear translations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Malekula
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2002
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Melanesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2000
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1925-1927
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- late eighteenth century - mid 1920s
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Island of Malekula, Vanuatu
- NotesAdditional notes
- by A. Bernard Deacon ; edited by Camilla H. Wedgwood. With a pref. by A. C. Haddon.
- 'Native texts: stories and myths recorded in the dialects of Malekula, and translated wholly or in part by A. B. Deacon': p. 715-736
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 757-760) and index
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Malekula (Vanuatu)